1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for spraying or inoculating trees, and particularly to a device for tapping and inoculating trees that can be used to treat the tree with biosubstances to enhance the quantity and quality of gums or resins harvested from the trees.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gum Arabic is a natural gum made from hardened sap. This sap is produced by two species of acacia trees, Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal. There are many uses for gum Arabic ranging from food, art, cosmetics, pyrotechnics to medicine, but gum Arabic is most prevalently used in the food industry.
Gum Arabic is mainly harvested in the Middle East and West Asia. While current production appears to be level with demand, recent studies have shown that the trees can be made to produce even more than the normal amount of gum Arabic sap. To harvest the hardened sap, the farmer typically taps the branches of the tree with a sharp instrument, which forces the tree to exude sap, a viscous liquid substance, as a natural reaction to the injury and recovery therefrom. It has been noticed that when a certain beetle alights on the tapped surface of Acacia senegal for a certain amount of time, the amount of sap being exuded was higher than normal. The present inventors have performed in vitro experiments that show that inoculation of the tapped branches of Acacia senegal with a fungus and a bacterium, either individually or in combination, increased gum Arabic production and improved its quality substantially as compared to tress that were not inoculated.
However, there is a need for simple and practical equipment that can simultaneously tap and inoculate the branches of Acacia senegal to produce gum Arabic. Thus, a device for tapping and inoculating trees is desired.